Blum in Rose

A tasting with Dr. Kent Rosenblum. Love that he's a veterinarian (still, occasionally, practicing) and supports animal welfare projects. Not been the biggest fan of all these wines, but we've enjoyed the single-vineyard zinfandels, and we love the charity work.

First off, Dr. Rosenblum is a jovial guy, from Minnesota, full of midwestern spirit and corny jokes. Lots and lots of corny jokes.

2008 "Vintner's Cuvée" Blanc. 73% Chenin Blanc, 20% Sauvignon Blanc and 7% Viognier. This was offered as a 100% Sauvignon Blanc, so it was rather confusing, as it did not at all conform to type (and rather gave me hope for the varietal). We did arrive late to the tasting, so we didn't get a chance to ask the question. As it turns out... not the case. Nose of apple, whiteflowers, and absolutely no S.B. cat pee or tropicality. On the palate, juicy, a little soft, apple and honey tones. A bit too soft, but probably ideal for a mixed summer crowd.

2006 Chateau La Paws Côte du Bone Blanc, a viognier, roussane, marsanne, sauv. b. and chardonnay blend. Lightly musky nose, apple, mead, musk melon, yellow fruit and dryer sheets. Juicy and lightly sweet, medium acidity, a bit non-descript, but look, it supports animal welfare, and again, I think a crowd pleaser.

2007 "Kathy's Cuvée" Viognier. Kent reckons this should be drunk fresher than this! Oy! Bright nose of apricot, lemon peel, melon, reminds me of some botrytised wines, a bit of mineral and apple cider. Nice bitter entry, apple-y, reminds me a bit of Turkish delight, but very soft.

2006 "Heritage Clone" Petit Sirah. Strong vanilla blueberry milkshake nose, but with a touch of sour cherry, sweaty sock and bacon fat. Rich and thick, soft but drying tannins, a bit of clay/mineral, quite juicy, and the 14.8% is well contained.

N.V. "Vintner's Cuvée XXX". Mostly '06 grapes, this is Rosenblum's biggest seller. 100,000 cases! Lighter nose than recent Rosenblum Zins, bright, red fruits, a bit of stone. On the palate, definitely fruit forward, soft and juicy, with a slightly stemmy, sweet and short finish.

2006 "Contra Costa" Zinfandel, warmer, fruiter nose than the cuvée, a bit warm on the palate, juicy plum and cherry, a bit tighter, with a touch of smoke, and less sweet. Simple but tasty, a little bit of character, and not over the top. A welcome change from earlier vintages, and a notch or two down in alcohol content (14.4%).

2006 "Richard Sauret" Zinfandel. Interesting nose, prune, candied walnuts, raspberry liqueur... palate is rich but not sweet, smooth, full, a red fruit with a touch of blue cheese funk. This is the end of Rosenblum that we like, and again, welcome to see the alcohol content dropping below 15%.

N.V. "Désirée" - a "chocolate" dessert wine, about 19% abv. I did not enjoy this... it really does smell like chocolate, but in a Nestlé Quik sort of way.

Well, there you go. It was a boisterous group of 25 or so people, the wines were ok, but you know what, we like Kent a lot, we chatted a little bit about Feline Leukemia, and we'll probably continue to buy.